Permanent skipper John Terry is unlikely to feature versus world and European and world champions Spain this weekend as manager Fabio Capello is keen to experiment with a number of his young defensive personnel.

And, in light of Terry's expected absence, it is understood Capello could turn to Lampard should the experienced Chelsea midfielder start at Wembley, otherwise Gareth Barry will wear the skipper's armband.

A source said: "Frank Lampard will be the captain if he is selected and there is every chance that he will as his experience under these circumstances will be needed. But if not Gareth Barry has captained the team once before, so there is no problem there."

If Lampard does lead out his nation versus the Spanish it would demonstrate quite a turnaround for the 33-year-old, whose international future was recently questioned following a dip in form.

He has, however, impressed of late, scoring six goals in his last eight outings for Chelsea, and could be poised to start for England against Spain as Capello aims to complement youth with experience.

Gary Cahill, Phil Jones and Phil Jagielka are all in contention to start in the centre of defence. Jagielka is suffering from a toe injury but it is understood he could be available, while Jones may be deployed in a defensive midfield role.

The source added: "Jagielka does have a problem with the toe, but he has been amazing in his last two games playing with the problem, with an injection. Jones and Cahill are other possibilities, so there is no need to start with John Terry when Fabio has already made it clear that he wants this chance to see some other players at the highest level."